Learn a new trick or 2. Have a question about your dog’s behavior? The Pooch Coach will be offering free 1-1 advice to attendees. It’s a great way to practice your dog’s greeting skills with other dogs as well as with humans… All overseen by an expert canine behaviorist.

Agenda for the Meetup: Please be on time so you do not miss the exercises!

NOTE – This is the last Meetup of 2018!!This event is for past and currentPooch Coach clients only. (Look for another open Meetup early next year).

Agenda for the Meetup:Please be on time so you do not miss the exercises!

12:00 – 12:30 Polite dog greetings. We will continue the exercises of walking our dogs by other dogs to practice calmness & not reacting.

Sept/Oct Tip: Dog DNA Testing

How accurate are dog DNA tests… and does breed really matter?

I’ve often wondered how accurate these tests are. I’ve had clients get results of “beagle” for dogs who looked like golden retrievers. They have since gotten a little better, but some are also requesting pictures, which means they can “cheat”.

I also wonder why people are so obsessed with determining their dog’s breed. They are willing to adopt a rescue, but then they need to know what breed(s) they are. Let me assure you that, from a training and behavior standpoint, breed really doesn’t matter much. From a lifestyle perspective, breed does have more of an impact (needs lots of exercise, sheds, can’t handle heat or cold, etc.)

Breeds for dogs are like nationalities for people – they might look similar, but they are all unique and have varying skill sets and (psychological) issues. For more on “Does Breed Matter?”, see this article.

As far as DNA tests are concerned… Earlier this year, I saw this report on TV. A mixed breed dog’s DNA was sent to the 3 major companies, and they all came back with very different results (see pic). So this pretty much proves they aren’t accurate!

My final test came when I recently sent in my purebred Miniature Schnauzer’s DNA for testing. It should have come back 100% Mini Schnauzer, with maybe a 1-2% Australian Shepherd, since her great grandparent was mixed in with one to get the Merle gene into her line.

But, that’s not what came back. Click below to see the results for Musik’s DNA test.

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Have a great fall!

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